Drumfire

"Jcarr" (jcarr) 07/01/2016 at 13:10 • Filed to: None

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Been listening to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History lately, specifically the WWI Blueprint for Armageddon section. In part 3 he describes what is known as drumfire. That is when the shelling was so intense that it literally sounded like a drumroll. Just think about that for a second and imagine enduring it hungry, wet, tired and cold and only 18 years old.

I’ve read that during some of the later fighting, the barrages were so intense that one couldn’t even distinguish between the explosions. It just sounded like one hours-long explosion.

X37.9XXS > Jcarr 07/01/2016 at 13:15

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The ONLY good thing to come out of WWI

phenotyp > Jcarr 07/01/2016 at 13:32

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I started listening to Carlin when Blueprint started, and in between episodes of that I listened to damn near every other Hardcore History.

Can’t recommend it enough to everyone, they really are outstanding, and eye-0pening.

The descriptions of the German army mobilizing are breathtaking.

they-will-know-my-velocity > Jcarr 07/01/2016 at 13:57

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Dude, listen to the segment he did on Ghengis Khan. My personal favorite of his.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Jcarr 07/01/2016 at 13:58

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My favorite weapon of the World Wars is the M1 Garand rifle. 30.06, and a thundrous report. Devastating round fit more for beast than man. The sound I wonder at would be the din of 100 or more M1s all blazing away at once. And I cringe to think of being downrange.

Fanboys write excellent articles on the Garand on Wikipedia.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > X37.9XXS 07/01/2016 at 14:02

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And this:

In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

++++++++++++++++

The writer of this poem did not survive the war.

f86sabre > Jcarr 07/01/2016 at 14:21

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I listened that as well. Unbelievable. number of shells and rates of fire over a sustained period have never been matched. Countries were melting down everything to make shells.

Sam > Jcarr 07/01/2016 at 14:23

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I would like to point out that the young soldiers were there by choice (for the most part). People actually wanted to go fight for their country.

Jcarr > Sam 07/01/2016 at 14:31

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Yeah, he spends a good amount of time on that and how this war shattered the romantic idea of war.

Sam > Jcarr 07/01/2016 at 14:36

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I listened to the whole series about a year ago. Can you believe that the French wore bright blue military uniforms, and the officers wore white gloves and didn’t carry guns because it was “beneath them”? The Germans quickly realised that they just needed to shoot the guys with white gloves and no guns to completely wreck the chain of command.

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > Jcarr 07/01/2016 at 14:47

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I’m listening to “Death Throes of a Republic” as I type this. Dan Carlin is the goddamn man.

Also, today is the 100th anniversary of the first day of the battle of the Somme. What a day.

Shane MacGowan's Teeth > Jcarr 07/01/2016 at 15:51

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I did the math on this once, and for Verdun, there were something like 150lbs of explosives for every square yard of the battlefield fired.

That’s a lot of bang.